The Forbidden Trilogy(115)

"That's not all." She takes me to the center, and bodies appear. Kids I had gone to school with. I realize we are not in present time, whatever that might mean. We are in no time. She is showing me the past.

A new man, scary and big, with a gun at his side, takes a whip and.... How can this be? He tears the skin off the back of a young boy. "No!" I scream, but no one turns to look at me. He doesn't stop.

"They can't hear you. It's a memory, nothing more. Come."

We leave that horrible scene. The boy's tortured face will forever haunt me, I know.

We come to another place on campus, outside the Headmaster's office. Two boys prepare to duel. I smile. Duels had always been fun, though sometimes a little dangerous. What mischief are they causing now?

Fire and Ice. Robert Frost is recited. As is the tradition in our duels, there must be a recitation of poetry or literature to thematically inspire the duels. It's my favorite part. And this is one of my favorite poems.

But something goes wrong. They are interrupted by the tall, mean man. The gun is in his hand.

And....

No. Oh my God, no. The boy. The fire boy. He's dead. No! I knew him. I had class with him, and now his brains are splattered all over the sidewalk.

"Is this real? This can't be real."

"I'm sorry, but it is. We need your help. Can you come? The Seeker, he's killing us. He controls us and takes away our powers. We've already failed once at escape. We need you and Drake."

"We're coming. Hang on to hope. We'll be there."

***

Dawn lifted the veils of night from the sky and awakened me before the alarm. I shook Drake awake. "We have to go. No time to wait. Kids are dying."

I just hoped we wouldn't be next.





Chapter 48 – Lucy



The Seeker's voice drifted into Lucy's dreams. Why was she dreaming of the Seeker?

Consciousness played hide 'n seek with her mind until a dull, throbbing pain in her shoulder brought her back to reality.

"I trust you are comfortable enough? I knew you would want your wits about you, so I had the doctor give you a smaller dose of pain medication than normal. Please, let me know if it is not enough, and I shall have more brought to you. I apologize for the trigger-happy fools who shot you. They have been dealt with."

Lucy pulled herself into a sitting position on the bed. The Seeker sat in a chair next to her. "Where am I?"

"These are my personal chambers. I wanted to supervise your care personally."

A candle on the side table lit the room with a soft glow, but cast the Seeker in shadows. "Why's it so dark in here?"

"I exist in the shadows of the world." He offered just the hint of a grin. "I am delighted you have woken. Can I get you anything before we talk?"

Lucy swallowed and ran her tongue over her fuzzy teeth. "Water, please."

"Of course." The Seeker poured a cup from the dresser next to him and handed it to her.

The cold, pure liquid washed away the remnants of medication coating her mouth and fogging her brain.

"My brother, Luke, is he okay? Was he hurt?"

"Your brother is unharmed." He waved his long fingers in the air as if to shoo a fly or dismiss a thought. "So let's get down to business, shall we? It hurts me that the students I work so hard to protect are destroying everything we've built here. Tell me, Lucy, why are you and your friends rebelling?"

"You really think I'm going to give up our secrets to you?"

"I am not interested in your secrets, only your motives. I want to understand how this has happened. It was not in the plan, and it perplexes me." His eyes glowed an unnatural white, and he curved his lips into something that looked like a frown, but lacked any humanity.

Lucy couldn't tell if he was lying. Either her powers had been shut down again, or he could block her. She would have to assess him the old-fashioned way.

"You have spies in every corner of this school. How can you not see why we'd rebel? We aren't safe here anymore. You had my best friend impregnated against her will and locked up. She escaped, and now you and your goons are torturing, whipping and killing students. Why would you do this to us and claim to want us safe and happy?"

All her frustration, all her fear, boiled over. She knew she should have stopped talking, forced herself to calm down, but the words poured out of her, louder and louder, until she was all but screaming. "You treat us like property, like a weapon to be used and discarded. We've made this organization millions of dollars, maybe more, with our talents, and now you do this to us. We're not weapons. We're human beings. Those are just kids out there, and now one is dead!"

The Seeker nodded. "I agree. This has all gotten out of hand. You have no idea how... valuable you all are. I wish we could all live free in the world, at peace and happy, but the people out there are not ready for what we can do."